CES 2015: HTC announces Desire 826 with front facing UltraPixel camera

Back in October when I took a look at the HTC Desire Eye I made the comment to HTC employees that I would rather see an UltraPixel camera on the front. The employees must have been smiling inside since they had the new HTC Desire 826 under development with just such an arrangement.

HTC's UltraPixel technology was an innovative approach to smartphone camera technology when it launched the HTC One M7 in 2013. More light was captured with the camera, but detail was lost and often too much light was captured.

Many were hoping for an improvement in the UltraPixel camera in the HTC One M8, but unfortunately the same UltraPixel module was used with the addition of a secondary depth sensor, the Duo Camera. As HTC begins to use 13 megapixel camera modules for the rear camera, the UltraPixel seems to be a perfect solution as a front facing camera where bringing in light is important and deep detail doesn't matter as much.

The HTC Desire is the mid-tier line, but the last couple of devices have had near top tier specs. The HTC Desire 826 comes with a 5.5 inch 1080p display, 64-bit Snapdragon 615 octa-core CPU, 13 megapixel rear camera, front facing UltraPixel camera, HTC BoomSound front facing stereo speakers, and more.

HTC Desire 826 colors include blue lagoon, white birch, purple fire, and more with availability dependent on regions. HTC will be launching compatible accessories, including the Dot View case.

As you can see, there isn't much missing in the HTC Desire 826. It will be released in Asia at the end of January 2015 with a roll out in other regions over the next several months. HTC has a US availability website so it looks to be coming to us at some point in the future.